Quality Management in Higher Education: Towards a Better Understanding of an Emerging Field

ABSTRACT

The article analyses how quality management is understood in higher education research. By reviewing a number of academic contributions addressing quality management issues in Quality in Higher Education from 1995–2008, the article identifies central concepts associated with quality management, discusses whether there are commonalities to be found in how the field of research addresses quality management issues, and provides some clarifications as to the developmental potentials in this area. The article shows that research in the field of quality management can be characterised as conceptually heterogeneous and multidisciplinary, although the contributions in the field also share a number of similarities. In the conclusion an argument is made for more joint and comparative research in this area.

Keywords:

• quality management
• governance
• quality systems
• higher education